Door-latch.



No. 654,242. Patented July 24, I900. w. H. GARLOCK.

D008 LATCH.

(Applxcation filed May 8, 1900.)

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DOOR-LATCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 654,242, dated July 24, 1900.

Application filed May 8, 1900. Serial No. 15,955. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern..-

Be it known that LWILLIAM H. GARLOCK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Ouyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Door Latches; and I do declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of theiriventiomwhich will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates more especially to door-latches and embraces the construction substantially as hereinafter shown and described, and more particularlypointed out in the claims.

This latch is designed more particularly for wagon-doors; but it is also admirably adapt ed for other uses, and has for its object the close locking of doors and in wagons to prevent rattling as well as to make a close-fitting door. In addition to these features the construction permits of an easy disengagement of the locking parts when properly handled; but when locked the latch cannot of itself become disengaged or jump out of place.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective elevation of my improved latch mounted on two door-sections, (shown only in part,) the dotted lines of the latch showing the raised unlocking position. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the doors and the latch looking and supporting plates mounted thereon, with the latch shown in full lines in looking position, the dotted lines representing the natural position of the latch when freed from the catch. Fig. 3 3 3, Fig. 2, looking to the right and showing more especially the catch for the latch and the backing-support for the door edges.

The device as thus shown comprises three several members, the latch-bar 2, the latchsupporting plate 3, and the catch-plate 1. The plates 3 and lare screwed down or bolted on the face and at the meeting edges of doorsections 5 and 6, and these sections are each shown as being hinged to swing outward from each other and have a backing ledge or rib 7 top and bottom, against which they hear when the doors are closed and locked. Either one of the plates could be fastened to a rigid or fixed support, such as a door-jamb, and the is a cross-section on line other would then be mounted on the door proper, and the same locking results as hereinafter described would follow.

The latch 2 is a flat spring-bar pivotally supported u'pona bolt 8 through the rear'of plate l, said bolt or screw serving in this instance to also fasten said plate to the door-section 6. The said latch then passes through a keeper or loop 9 on plate 4 at the front edge thereof and bears flat against a rib 10 at the edge of said plate. Said rib 1O throws the latch 2 outward at an angle to the face of the plates and is held in this position by the spring tension of the latch bearing against said rib.

To look the door-sections together, the latch 2 is caused to spring back across rib 10 as a bearing and engage a catch 11 on plate 3, the

button or handle 12 on the end of latch 2 requiring some inward pressure to be brought against it to accomplishthis... Plate 3 also has a locking-rib 13 on its face and at the edge adjacent to the rib on plate 4, and when the latch 2 is sprung into locking position with catch 11 at the left the inner face of bar 2 bears also tightly against said rib 13, as well as rib lO, thus making a similar edge pressure against both doors. The latch 2 having now a fixed relation at catch 11 and bolt 8, the normal spring tension is against these ribs 10 and 13, forcing the doors inward against the backing-ledges 7 andlocking them tightly and securely, so that no loose play of the doors is had either upon their supports or in their frame.

The spring locking tension of latch 2 prevents any rattling and, moreover, will accommodate itself to any inequalities of the doors themselves, which in time are apt to warp and throw their meeting edges more or less out 0 line.

To guard against the possibility of the latch 2 working out of engagement behind catch 11, a lip 14 at the top of the latch projects inward to keep the latch in place. When the latch is to be released, its button end is pushed back until the edge of the latch is free to slide past lip 14, and it is then raised to the position seen in dotted lines, Fig. 1, where the latch is shown entirely disengaged from catch 11. The keeper or loop 9 and the ribs 10 and 13 are of sufficient length to allow the latch 2 to ride upward the distance required to free catch 11, and rib 13 on plate 3 has a rounded and beveled face 15 along its upper part to permit a free working action of latch at the time lip 14 on catch 11 is to be avoided.

The advantages of a latch of this kind are many, chief of which are the simplicity and effectiveness of its operation, the small number of parts, and the durability of its spring construction, which enables a tight looking to be had and all rattling or looseness avoided.

Referring to plates 3 and 4, the ends coming to the edges of the doors are referred to as their outer ends and the ends running back on the doors as their inner ends.

What I claim is 1. In door-latches, a latch and a pair of latch-plates, one of said plates having at its outer end a loop to confine the latch and a rib against which the latch bears, and the other plate having at its inner end a catch for the latch and a downwardly-deepening rib on its face engaged by the latch when closed, substantially as described.

2. The combination of a set of doors closing together, and latch members therefor comprising a base-plate for one door having a latch-loop and rib at its outer end, and a baseplate for the other door having a catch at one end and a locking-rib at the other end, a spring-latch extending through the loop of the first-named plate and engaging the catch on the other plate and pressing against both said ribs as a fulcrum to close the doors at their meeting edges, substantially as described.

3. The combination of the doors and the plates mounted thereon, a fiat spring-latch pivoted on the inner end of one of said plates and a catch therefor on the inner end of the other plate, said plates having each a rib over which said latch is bent between its ends, and backing-ledges against which the doors are pressed by said latch mechanism, substantially as described.

4. In door-latches, a latch member having a rib across its face at one end and a catch for a latch at the other end, in combination with a spring-latch bent across said rib and engaged behind said catch, substantially as described.

5. In door-latch mechanism, a set of plates in combination with a spring-latch pivoted at the inner end of one plate and acatch therefor on theinner end of the other plate, and ribs on said plates between said pivot and said catch and standing out from the face of the plates,whereby when the latch is engaged over said catch at'its free end it is bent across both said ribs, substantially as described.

Witness my hand to the foregoing specification this 1st day of May, 1900.

WILLIAM H. GARLOCK. 

